An exciting expedition to the islands of the Wallacea region, in central Indonesia, to help with an annual biodiversity survey has been planned for our Years 11, 12 and Pre-IB students next year.

From June 13th – June 26th, 2017 our students will get to experience the beautiful islands of Wallacea. During the first week of this two-week expedition, students will be based in a rainforest research camp in Buton, completing jungle survival training as well as a course on Wallacea Forest Ecology. The students will be working alongside an international team of biodiversity scientists and will help these scientists monitor forest structure, research reptiles (the top predators in the Wallacea islands), live trap civet cats, patch occupancy transects of the endemic forest Buffalo, perform bird point counts, conduct mist netting, and study macaque behaviour. During this week they will have the chance to take a half day canopy access training course from the Canopy Access Ltd team that does canopy filming for the BBC. On the second week, the group will transfer to Hoga Island or Pantai Nirwana Marine Research Center, both of which are in the centre of the Coral Triangle – the most diverse reef systems in the world. Here, students will have the option to complete their PADI Open Water diving certification or an Indo Pacific reef ecology course.

This unforgettable experience will help our students to complete their IB extended essays and gain valuable CAS credits. Operation Wallacea is a network of academics from European and North American universities, who design and implement biodiversity and conservation management research expeditions.